Lost In Paradise
by novelreader
Summary: "There." Peter says. He's pointing at a star, a second star by the moon to the right. "Second Star to the Right. And Straight on till Morning." He's saying more, but Emma doesn't hear him. She suddenly recalls another memory. A woman's voice. "Where is that?" "Neverland" Hook? "MOOMM!" HENRY! Emma wakes up in a sweat. Neverland was not at all how she imagined it to be.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Once Upon A Time is owned by ABC, Adam Horowitz and Eddie Kitsis.

**Chapter 1: Dreams**

_The clock strikes 8:15 am as a wail is suddenly heard along the whitewashed walls of the halls. A voice urges._

_Push!_

"_GAHHHHH!" came the scream of a sweat-slicked blonde-haired woman, trying to push as hard as she could like the doctor kept saying, if only every push didn't fucking hurt! _

_Unknown to most of the occupants in the room, the lights in the room starts flashing as she struggles through the surging pain of child birth. She's not even given sedatives to ease the pain. The cop next to her is perplexed by the faulty lights but thinks the hospital just needs to fix their lighting. _

"_Push!"_

'_I'm fucking pushing!' She practically roars in her head but instead opts for a grunt, gritting her teeth. 'You try pushing a several pound baby out of your-'"Ugh!" she grunts as another spike of pain goes through her. And then it was all over._

"_Congratulations Miss Swan." Smiles the doctor. "It's a baby boy."_

_Emma looks dazedly at the doctor and the little head she could see protruding out of the little bundle of blankets he's holding._

"_Do you want to hold him?" The doctor asked kindly almost as if the prison guards that surrounded the doors of the room, the warden who was by the blond lady, and the handcuffs that secured her to the bed so she wouldn't leave wasn't there._

_That question made Emma blink her eyes once more as tears started to well up and her throat started to become tight. The previous pain she was feeling at the lower half of her body was starting to fade into a soreness, while a new pain started to well up in her heart. A pain she would have given up for the previous one. She wanted nothing more than to hold the baby, a feeling that frightens her because attachment is something she has become wary of especially when it came to people. She doesn't remember anything she's ever kept for so long that she still has, or anyone who has a close relationship to her that is still around for her to rely on to be there. And now she has to be there for this little baby. Family is a foreign concept to Emma Swan and the prospect of being a mother never occurred to her during her pregnancy. She has spent most of her time in prison feeling an overwhelming depression over the betrayal of her fiancé and his abandonment that she didn't really think about the fact that a baby was growing inside of her. If it hadn't been for the prison guards forcing her to eat she didn't think she or the baby would survive the pregnancy. And now that she could see the baby, the reality of it hits her._

_She looks at the cops and warden around her, the handcuff binding her to the bed she wouldn't go anywhere. Why it was there she didn't know, it wasn't like she had the strength to run after giving birth to a baby, and any fool can see that there was no way anyone could get past the cops. She knew her situation well even if she did have a few months left._

_She shakes her head as her throat tightens and she can't hold back the tears any longer. She can't even if she wants too. She knows this and yet she feels she's not strong enough, because never has she wanted something so bad, but she can't. She knew what wanting can lead too. She knew that it never led to what was best. She wanted Neal and her to be family, to have a home, but in the end wanting was not enough. It never is._

"_No." She answers before her warden could. _

"_Are you sure?" The doctor asked, his eyebrows scrunching up._

_She nods slightly as tears flows down her face and she turns her head so she doesn't see the baby's face lest she changes her mind and everything would go for naught. Emma was always the type of person who followed her heart. It was the reason she trusted Neal so easily because she fell in love with him so, and her heart was his, but her heart failed her. She wasn't going to fail this boy just because her heart so wanted to be with him. She needed to think of his best chance and this was his best chance. It didn't matter what her heart thought. Her heart failed her too many times already, both with the parents whom she always hoped and dreamed would take her away from her miseries, and with Neal, who was real and right there and who left. 'Why did you leave me!?' No she couldn't. She was not strong enough to be a mother. But hopefully somewhere out there, there's a person who can mother this child, and can give him the future and life she can't._

_Emma closes her eyes to keep the tears at bay and gulps down a sob._

"_I'm sure."_

* * *

><p><em>When she opens her eyes she feels tears spilling down, and expecting to see a blue bassinet with a little baby in it, she sees a casket with a pale beautiful body in it. The body is a beautiful woman, pale, with dark hair, sleeping peacefully with a rose tucked underneath her enclosed hands over her chest. A dark haired man stands over it with hunched soldiers.<em>

"_I miss her. I wish she didn't have to go." Emma hears herself saying._

_The man gives a painful exhale. _

"_I know." His voice cracks, "I miss her too."_

* * *

><p><em>She is now at a nursery full of children of all ages playing with toys. Emma is trying particularly hard to be the adorable girl everyone wants, the kind that plays with Barbie dolls and brush hair and has tea parties and what not though she doesn't particularly care for it. What she really wants is to go play with the boys of the foster home who is outside playing pirates and kicking soccer balls. <em>

'_Wait aren't I too old to play pirates' Emma thinks distinctively as she turns away from looking longingly at the boys who are playing around in the playground below. She is brought back from her musings as a young couple walks by with one of the foster care workers, the children's wardens, showing them the new children in stock for them to take home. The couple comes near Emma, and Emma is shocked to see that the couple is none other than Mary Margaret and David, coming in to see the kids to adopt. They look at Emma and smile, and Emma feels a surge of hope and joy filling her body. The worker sees Mary Margaret and David's interest in Emma and comes forward._

"_Emma is a wonderful girl to adopt. She's somewhat on the wild side, but has a big loving heart and a wild imagination. She can tell the most wonderful of stories, and is extremely intelligent. She was one of the first of the children to actually learn to read, and is exceeding her English and History classes. She will sure to make you very proud parents. We are rather confident her future will be great." The woman beams, and Emma is flattered despite knowing the woman is only saying these things to sell her off. The couple looks at Emma, and Emma feels elated, because she knows for sure they'll take her. These are her parents after all, but her hopes are dashed when she hears Mary Margaret's next words. _

"_She's a lovely girl, and we have no doubt we'll love her all the same, but we're not looking for an old child." Mary Margaret gives Emma a sad apologetic smile, and then looks at her husband clutching his hand tightly before turning to the woman, "We want a baby. We want to feel the full joy of being parents and with one whom we can help nourish and grow. A child that can truly look at us and call us 'Mommy' and 'Daddy'. We want to experience everything there is to be parents." Mary Margaret says passionately and looks at David with a hopeful and teary expression. All Emma can do is look with a gaping mouth and yell, 'But I called you 'Mom' and 'Dad'! Don't you remember!? At the mines in Storybrooke!" but they don't hear her. As they walk away with the female worker, all she can think is that she's old, too old for having parents, too old to be loved._

* * *

><p>"<em>Well you got to admit Ducky, you are pretty old." Peter grins. She is laying in the grass at Central Park watching the sky turn from dusk to twilight. Late evening dog walkers, and parents gathering their children are heading home. Some of the shops across the street are closing up, but Emma stays still and lays there, content about staying the night at the park. <em>

"_Go away." She replies. She doesn't want to deal with Peter. She just wants to lay there and pretend she doesn't exist._

"_Come now. Laying there doesn't sound so fun. Are you going to lay there and sulk all day?" he asks. He receives silence as an answer, and sighs, "Look I know you're bummed about losing your dad and going back to the Home."_

"_Bummed!" She interrupts, laughing. Her laugh sounds cold in the boy's ears. "I'm not bummed! I should have expected it really. Every time I think maybe I might have a normal life, a family that might possibly love me-"She stops as her voice becomes choked up, and tears start filling her eyes. Then she gathers herself and says, "I really should have expected it. I don't know where my father went but one thing is for sure…"_

_She looks at Peter resolutely, "I'm not going back there. I'm tired of being rejected and abandoned, of people expecting me to be someone or something I'm not, just so I could sell myself, so they could love me. I'm tired of people judging me."_

_Peter looks at her with sympathetic eyes for once, and chuckles, "You really are an ugly duckling aren't you." He states this as a fact._

"_I'm not ugly." She says. She doesn't sound so confident when she says it._

"_Of course you're not. You're special. Those people just don't see it." Peter scoffs. _

"_My dad saw it. So did my mom." Her voice sounds choked when she mentions her mom. It's been practically a year and she's still not gotten over her mother's suicide. She still questions and blames herself for her foster mom's death. She's gone down a deep depression unknown to her father, and has started doing things she shouldn't, being with people she shouldn't, like drugs and gangs. Now that she thinks about it, that's probably where she first saw Peter._

"_They're gone now though." He says softly to her._

_She wonder idly if her father found out what she had been doing. She wonders if that's why he left her without a note or anything to tell her where he went. _

_No that can't be it. He has to still be out there. He has too!_

_Emma gets up with determination in her eyes hidden behind the spectacles of her black framed glasses. "My dad's not gone. He's still out there." She says resolutely._

"_Emma" Peter sighs. _

"_Tomorrow we'll keep looking. For clues, signs, evidence, anything! There's got to be a reason for his disappearance!"_

"_Emma the police have already been looking. Remember. They've been looking for months now! We've been looking for months now! If we haven't found him then-"_

"_THEN WHAT!?" She shouts at him, there's a rage behind her eyes, and the ginger haired boy finally shut up. "Then what Peter?" She asks quietly, "What happened to my father that would have him missing for months!?"_

"_He probably left" Peter suggest timidly. It's out of character of him, but Emma pays him no mind. She scoffs at this, though this reason is what she fears the most. That her foster father left her, abandoned her, just like so many people in her life. Maybe she wasn't enough. Maybe he wanted a better daughter, but she throws those thoughts in the garbage bin of her mind once it starts. She knows that those thoughts are just her insecurities speaking. Emma's always known that she has abandonment issues coupled with a million insecurities of her looks and how she acts, etc. etc. These things blind her from the truth, and all she really wants right now is just to find out where her father is, and what happened to him!_

"_My father wouldn't up and leave me. Not without a reason."_

"_Perhaps he's dead."_

_Emma turns and glares scathingly at Peter who almost looks like he'll curl in fright from it. Almost. Emma's seen Peter fight some of the big boys in the gang of hooligans she hangs out with after school, she's stopped doing it when her father became missing. Peter is fierce like the red of his hair. He's not the type to cower over anything._

"_He can't be. And if he is, I need to know how. I need to know why."_

"_Don't you think maybe it's sometimes better not to know?" Peter asks softly after a moment of silence. Emma is quiet. _

"_I feel like not knowing is the worst." She replies._

"_But what would knowing do? Make you feel better?" Peter scoffs, "Often times the truth is far worse than the lies we tell ourselves."_

"_Then what would you have me do. Accept that he left me!?" Emma yells helplessly. She feels the tears dripping down her cheeks. Well she knew she couldn't hold them off for long. She hates that she always has to deal with this. For once she wishes she had someone who would be there for her, and help her get through the pain._

"_No." Peter answers for her. He looks sympathetic once more, and Emma can't help feeling that the boy can read her mind for some reason. "Accept that he's not coming back. The authorities are trying to find you Emma, they want to take you back to the foster care system. Do you really want to go through that again!? Having to wait for someone to accept you, want you, only for them to leave. That's what you've been going through your whole life, right? Going from house to house, like you're nothing more than a piece of luggage. You're more than that! We are more than that!" He looks at her passionately with fire in his eyes and she can't help but not look away. "They always leave Emma. That's what this world is full of. People who abandon you, leave you, betray you in a moment's notice." He says grimly, giving her the most serious expression she's ever seen on his face, "In this world you can't expect people to save you, to even love you unconditionally. You have to make them. You have to save yourself. You have to care for yourself because in the end no one else will." _

_Emma is quiet as she contemplates his words. Peter then gets up and looks at her with a mischievous smile. "Don't worry. We can always pretend we're not alone. That's the best way to live anyway. And I know a place that's great for pretending!" He grins at her, and Emma blushes in spite of herself. "What are you going on about?" She asks. _

"_What I'm saying is let's get out of here! Far away from here! Where there's no grownups, no police, no teachers or foster care workers to worry about, no laws, no rules, no one to tell us what to do or how to live! And no one to leave us, to tell us we're not good enough because we could be whoever we want to be! Think of anything we want, and it'll happen!" He finishes excitedly and beams at her. Emma laughs, Peter is back to being a childish boy he usually is. _

"_And where," Emma asks grinning coyly. Suddenly she feels high in spirits. Peter has a talent in getting the feeling out of her and most people. She's practically jealous of his gift, but also grateful. "Where is this place where we can be whoever we want?" _

_Peter smirks, and points to the skies. Emma gasps. She's never been at the park late, so she's rather surprised at the stars twinkling in the night sky. "There." Peter says. He's pointing at a star, a second star by the moon to the right. "Second Star to the Right. And Straight on till Morning." He's saying more, but Emma doesn't hear him. She suddenly recalls another memory._

_A woman's voice._

"_Where is that?"_

_Regina?_

"_Neverland." Answers a man._

_Hook!_

_Neverland._

_They are at the harbor again. In Storybrooke, and all Emma's aware of is that she's running as fast as she can. She has to get to her son. Henry's brown hair is just seen through the arms of the two magic haters who came to Storybrooke to destroy the town and it's magic. Why do they want Henry?_

"_MOM!"_

_She's too late. Just when she reaches out. Henry is gone. With those two. Gone! She doesn't want to believe it that she almost falls headfirst into the ocean if it wasn't for Regina and Mary Margaret pulling her back. _

_NOOOOOOO! _

_She's too late! He's gone! She failed! She's supposed to be the savior! That's what Henry called her, right? So why couldn't she save him? Why couldn't she save Neal? Why couldn't she save her foster parents!? She's a failure, not a savior! She couldn't save anyone, not even her son!_

_Henry is gone! Gone! _

* * *

><p>Emma Swan, age 29, blonde haired, medium build, and probably the most normal woman in the face of the Earth if one doesn't account for her foster care past and her bit of criminal record, never thought she'd be in this sort of situation. The sort where you wake up in a sweat experiencing a million memories of your past only to come back to the present situation of the fact that her 11 year old son was kidnapped by two psycho magic hating goons and taken to Neverland of all places. Taken to Neverland. Yeah, it seems like her dreams were more realistic than her actual life. Especially after she found out that her somewhat sweet if not a little delusional son was right about the fact that she was none other than the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, and the entire town he lived in was apparently inhabited by fairy tale creatures and characters from another land transported to the real world by an Evil Queen who casted a Dark Curse to get rid of all their happy endings and only Emma who was apparently born in said land can break it. Well she broke it alright, and apparently her somewhat sweet but delusional son wasn't delusional after all. Though by that she was starting to question her own sanity, and just when she was somewhat getting used to the idea that somehow she ended up in a real life Disney land with her life surrounded by Disney characters, she meets her ex again, then loses him, has to deal with the entire town being destroyed, and now her son is kidnapped.<p>

To Neverland.

Life just can't give her a break can it? While Emma has come to believe her son in his every world, especially the whole fact that her life is now involved with fairy tale creatures and she's the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, something she still can't get used too, she still thinks that Henry was wrong about one thing.

Emma Swan is no savior. Saviors save worlds. Lives. So far it seems like Emma has been really failing at that, and breaking one lousy curse doesn't prove anything. She's failed so many times. She failed at keeping her foster parents. Her mom went and took her own life and her dad…

He went away.

Not to mention Neal. Neal. Gods. She still remembered the last thing she said to him.

"I love you."

And she meant it too. What she doesn't know is if he had ever felt the same way. Now she'll never know. And he's gone too. Because of her. Because she couldn't save him. She failed Henry, and now he's lost to her too.

She gets up, and wipes the cold sweat off her brow. No she hasn't failed Henry. She will save him. This she vows. And she'll get through Neverland, and Hell, and whatever comes her way, she **will** get her son back. No matter what.

Emma gets up from the makeshift bed, and notices other empty beds by her. It looks like she must have fallen asleep while getting to Neverland. Emma couldn't exactly remember when she decided to take a nap. Once Hook had dropped the bean and the portal activated, all Emma remembered were beautiful colors swimming along her vision. It was like swimming through a television set, though the colors melded together it looked like a thousand images flickering, moving, and slinking, blending with each other. It gave her a headache.

"You get used to it after a while." Hook had said as if he had done it a hundred times, which Emma decides, he probably did. And again Emma had to remind herself if she was dreaming or not. Apparently she still wasn't used to the magic thing. Especially the fact that she had it in her too. By the time they saw a clear image, another portal through the rainbow of reds, and greens, and blues, Emma had fainted. All she remembers is black.

Walking through the door of the ship's cabin, Emma finds herself face to face with a black-haired, very pissed off woman with a black leather jacket, gloves, and form fitting business pants.

"Looks like you're finally awake. We've been waiting for you."

"Waiting for me?" Emma asks and Regina leads up to the Captain's quarters.

"Yes." Regina scowls, "Apparently both Hook and Rumplestiltskin conveniently forgotten to tell us that in Neverland, unwanted visitors are prone to feinting spells."

Emma blinks and gives her a blank stare.

Regina sighs, "Once we hit this realm's waters, everyone except for Hook and Rumple, had fallen into a deep sleep with apparently a 50/50 chance of waking up. Once you get into Neverland, unless you are a child, you are pulled into memories of your past until you realize everything is an illusion. Until you find your way of getting out of the dreams. Mine was Henry, and by the look on your face I presume yours was the same."

Emma nods. "Is this gonna happen often?" She asks.

The raven-haired women snorts derisively, "Yes unless we decide not to sleep during our stay here."

"But that's impossible! We can't risk that!" Emma sputters suddenly feeling some fear over being in this place. So far it seemed like Neverland is determined to take them to their deaths through sleep apparently, and that's not a comforting thought. And all this time, she's heard ever since she was little that Neverland was supposed to be a wondrous place, a place where childhood dreams come true. Tch! Yeah right! Well maybe it was for kids, but nightmares for adults. Emma sighed, yeah this was certainly NOT a great time to come to Neverland. She's not exactly feeling the excitement she would have thought she felt coming to this place. Time can change people.

When they get into Hook's quarters, Emma is surprised at the simple décor of the place. She always thought Hook would be the type to be a bit extravagant considering he was a pirate who's into the business of stealing ships and gold and buried treasure and what not, but apparently not. Then again she may have been banking on Hook's character off her childhood books and movies, and Hook's already proved, unintentionally, that he was nothing like his Disney counterpart. Emma feels both disappointed and relieved, though she wonders now what the Peter Pan of this world is like compared to his Disney and book's counterpart.

"I'm glad you're finally awake Swan. Gave us quite a scare." Hook's deep husky voice interjects through her thoughts.

"Yeah. Well it's not like I'm going to let sleep get in the way of finding my son." She says as her mother and father walks towards her with concerned faces and relieved smiles. They embrace her, but Emma couldn't find herself to feel warmed by it. She is haunted by her dreams of another Mary Margaret and David, wanting a baby and not her.

"Let's get on with it already!" Regina snaps, "How do we get my son back!"

"Our son." Emma reminds Regina and then says, "Regina is right, we need a plan."

"First we need to get into to Neverland. And right now we have a problem." Hook says.

"A problem?" David repeats.

"In case you haven't noticed while coming here, it appears we're blocked from coming into the islands by the fog out there." Hook answers.

"A fog." Regina repeats incredulously, "You're not going into the island to find my son because you're scared of a fog."

"It's not just any fog." Rumple says. He seemed just as annoyed and restless as Regina. "That fog is called the Sluagh. It's a gathering of lost souls, souls that are trapped and ready to take us to our graves."

There's a moment of dreaded silence in the room.

"Okay then." Emma silently gulped, "How exactly do we get through it?" She asks. Hook and Rumplestilskin shares a look, one of the few times if not only she's seen those two actually cooperating, and it fills her with worry.

"The only way to get around is magic, but that only depends if you know the place well." Hook said.

"What do you mean if you know the place well?" Regina asked.

"He means if you don't know where to end up then you might end up in the wrong place, most likely the Fog of Death, trapped, lost, and no salvation in sight. Using magic here can get very deadly, especially when you get too arrogant enough to think you can bend the rules and use it as you like. This was made as a place for children to create magic and to store it. A conspiracy of the Fae's I'd rather not get to much into. They put rules here to protect Neverland from outsiders, and unfortunately there's consequences to when you break it. Especially if it's rules you haven't really gotten familiar about." Rumplestiltskin says.

"But you know the rules." Regina smirks, "You know this place."

Rumple chuckles, "Yes I do. But unfortunately the only ones who can maneuver around it are those that are strong enough to. And both of you my dears," He nods to Regina and Emma, "Are not there yet." He snaps his fingers, and suddenly Rumplestiltskin is gone with a puff of black smoke. Hook scoffs and shakes his head as if he was expecting this.

"Not _strong_ enough!" Regina hisses furious at her mentor's low judgment of her magic and turns her head to Emma, "How dare he compare me to you! I am twice as more experienced than you and I actually use my magic! I am the Evil Queen! No one is more powerful than me!" She is about to snap her fingers to disappear when suddenly Hook grasps his hand tight before she could do anything.

"That may be but you don't know Neverland's landscape well. The magic here is untamed and using magic against this type can end up destroying one rather than helping them. It's not about knowing spells."

Regina snaps her hand away from his grasp, and he continues, "It's about believing and knowing where you need to go. Which I'm afraid love you don't know yet. You haven't been here before." Hook turns back to reading an unknown map, but his voice changes to a more quiet and deadly tone, "This is how Pan plays. He makes sure his enemies overestimate themselves, and the sooner they do the sooner they die, and Pan wins." He turns back to looking at his new crew with a smirk, "I don't think anyone around here wants an early grave."

"Then what do you suppose we do, Hook?" David asks

"Another way is just to go through but the key is to remember your purpose, to go forward. It's not as easy as it sounds, the Slaugh's whole purpose is to target vulnerabilities, your memories. I've lost many a man in this ship to the most gruesome of deaths when I last went through that fog. It's no picnic I assure you. We'll be lucky if we all get out of there alive at all. The battle is not so much physical as much as it is mental. Be prepared." Hook ends gravely.

His newly appointed crew nods and leaves with his words on their minds.


	2. Chapter 2

"_Tamara!"_

"_Tamara!" _

"_TAMARA!"_

_ Tamara opened her eyes. Standing above her, the dark silhouette of an old woman in her mid-fifties surrounded by the yellow bright glare of the setting sun of Del Monte Forest, California, frowned down at her exhausted form. _

"_Now Tamara, the day's barely over! Don't tell me you're worn out from collecting all those sea shells! We haven't even gotten any mushrooms for my stew yet!" the old woman scolded._

_ Currently they are at Pebble Beach, where Tamara had begged her grandmother to come help her collect sea shells to make necklaces out of later. The old woman agreed on the grounds they later visit the pine forest to collect mushrooms for the family's famous mushroom soup. It was evening now. And after a long day of collecting sea shells and chasing the waves, Tamara was tired, but her grandmother still had one more thing to do. _

"_But Grandma!" Tamara groaned, "Couldn't we just order a pizza?" _

_ The old woman chuckled, "Yes I suppose, but then you wouldn't be able to taste my famous Gordon family recipe for mushroom soup. Don't worry, it'll just take a bit, then we'll head home. Besides whose fault was it to spend the entire day searching for sea shells and chasing the waves?"_

_ Tamara huffs, "I wasn't chasing waves. I was playing with my friend."_

"_Your friend?"_

"_Ariel." answered the girl with a smile in her voice._

"_That's a very pretty name." smiled the old woman kindly._

"_She has red hair just like Ariel from 'The Little Mermaid' so I decided to call her that. That and she's a mermaid! She looked happy when I did." continued Tamara excitedly._

"_What do you mean you 'decided to call her that'? She doesn't have a name of her own? And a mermaid!?" The old woman stopped to look at her 9-year old grand-daughter with a raised eyebrow._

"_I know. I know. What I just said sounds crazy, but I'm serious! I really did see a mermaid! She had the tail and everything! She was very pretty too."_

_ The grandmother frowned._

"_I'm serious!" insisted Tamara, "I didn't even believe mermaids were real until I saw one! And I swear grandma, I saw one!"_

"_Alright…" answered the old woman after a pause, "Maybe… you could show her to me tomorrow…"_

"_Okay!" smiled the nine-year old girl as she went back to following her grandmother to the car, oblivious to the strange look and pause that overcame the old woman, "I was planning on coming back tomorrow anyway! Oh grandma, you'll really like her! She's very sweet, but shy. And she doesn't really talk much, I'm not sure why."_

"_Okay sweetie. I can't wait to see. You know," The grandmother said, as she opened the car door for her granddaughter, "When I was little I always wanted to see a fairy."_

"_Really?" smiled the little girl, as her grandmother helped her with her seat belt and settled herself into the old Mercedes they owned._

"_Yup, and I did." The old woman smiled wanly as she checked her mirrors, her eyes becoming cloudy with memories, but Tamara didn't notice. She loved hearing her granny's stories about her days working as an archeologist around the world and the adventures she had. It made her dream of being a researcher and studying the old legends and tribal beliefs her ancestors had long ago. _

_ Most of all though, Tamara was glad her grandmother believed her. If there was anybody in the world who she can rely on to be on her side, it was her grandmother._

"_Did you, now? So you really do believe me?" The girl grinned, and the old woman laughed and shook her head momentarily making Tamara rethink her earlier thought and relief._

"_I never said that. I said I'll come tomorrow to see it. One can't just believe everything they are told. I have to see it first."_

"_Okay" sighed Tamara, but she understood. Her grandmother had been an archeologist, and she was practical. She didn't take a person's work as fact unless she saw proof. Tamara was the same way._

"_But Tamara, even if what you say is true, I need you to remember to steer clear away from the magical things." Her grandmother's voice was serious, which confused Tamara._

"_Okay… But why?" Asked the little girl._

"_What I mean is that… magic isn't how it is from the books and T.V shows and movies you watch… You see… It's more sinister…" Her grandmother says and her eyes become cloudy again. Tamara tries to absorb what her grandmother has just said, but can't get her mind around it. Isn't magic supposed to be magical… good, making all your dreams come true? _

"_Magic, Tamara, destroys everything it touches." _

_ With that, the wizened old woman ends it there as she turns on the engine and drives around to the forest so that they could pick mushrooms for the stew, but the conversation lingers in both their minds as they focus on the task at hand. Both with differing points of views._

_ After spending what felt like several hours in the forest, dusk had finally settled in. Tamara had just plucked out her 25__th__ mushroom. Her grandmother was just a few feet away collecting some of the mushrooms by the veil of mosses surrounding some trees. Just when she was about to return to her grandmother, she spotted something. A little sprite, or what she supposed was one. _

_ It had little beady black eyes, a small flat nose, and was about half the size of her little nine-year old body. The creature was blue with moss covering its body. Tamara blinked to make sure the image was still there. She must be imagining it, right?_

"_Grandma!" She called. "What is it, honey?" Her grandmother called back, intent on collecting her mushrooms. "There's a-"_

_ She turned back. The sprite was gone…_

_ Maybe she was imagining it. _

_ But then a bit away from where she was, past the large trunks of pine trees, she saw a ring of mushrooms surrounded by dead grass. It wasn't the ring that caught her eye though. It was the red-eyed bullfrog guarding the ring, and what was straddling the frog that caught her eye. The little black beady-eyed moss covered sprite staring right at her._

"_Grandma! Look what I found!" Tamara cried excitedly as she raced through the trees. _

"_Not too far now Tamara! You can get lost in these woods!" cried back her grandmother. Tamara on the other hand wasn't listening. She was too intent on trying to get to the sprite creature so she could show it to her grandmother._

_ Right when she came close to the ring, bright little lights started to appear, like fireballs floating in the air, and music, both haunting, beautiful, and festive, started to play. Within the ring, Tamara started to notice other creatures milling about in the circle along with the red-eyed bullfrog and the little sprite. _

_ They were laughing joyfully, jumping about, and dancing round and round, chanting and singing a song Tamara couldn't understand but found enchanting and beautiful that she was drawn to it. So captured by the beautiful tune and the enrapturing performance of these strange creatures, of all sizes, (some of them actually looked like fairies!) that she didn't notice her feet moving towards the ring or that she was suddenly standing within it until it was too late. All she knew, was suddenly she felt compelled to dance, and to join these little people in their merry fun. _

_ And so she did. _

_ She danced and danced in circles until she felt dizzy and nauseous and wanted to stop. _

_ Only she couldn't. _

_ No matter how much she wanted to fall down and rest, she couldn't stop her legs from moving. It was as if they had a mind of their own, or something was making them move, because she wasn't. Her feet after a time, had started feeling very sore, and she couldn't recall when exactly she expended so much energy for a time as she did now._

_ And still she couldn't stop dancing._

'_Why!? Why can't I stop!?' Tamara thought. Her feet felt like they were burning!_

_ Laughter rang into the air, but they didn't sound so joyful and fun to her anymore. _

_ They were sinister. _

_ And the laughter kept going. _

_ These creatures… She must be dreaming!_

_ For the first time since entering the circle, Tamara realized the strangeness of these creatures to become alarmed. At first, she had thought it was all her imagination, a dream, an illusion her mind conjured up to entertain herself. But now, with the feel of her uncontrollable moving burning legs, the unbearable heat. _

_ She knew. She knew now it was all real, and she was going to die. _

_ This wasn't pretend._

_ These strange creatures, the blue sprite, the red-eyed bullfrog, the huge faced little old man that looked a bit like a troll, the faerie like creatures all around, hopping laughing little fuzz balls, tiny creatures all around some so gruesome, strange, and some beautiful and ethereal, even the little balls of lights that were creatures too (fairies?) they were real, and they were all around her._

_ And the fire in the middle of the circle, the one they were dancing around, they were pushing her towards it. It billowed, so big when at first it was small, bright orange, and now an ominous blue then green. What was happening? Her eyes widened with realization and fear._

_ They were going to burn her alive._

"_GRANDMA!" Tamara tried to cry out, but only a gasp escaped from her. She couldn't breathe, and she was so hot. Oh God! She was going to die!_

"_TAMARA!" A voice cried out._

_ TAMARA!_

* * *

><p>Her eyes snapped opened. Above her was her fiancé, pale faced and worried. She was lying on the sand by the beach.<p>

"Tamara!" Greg Mendel's wide eyes searched hers frantically, "You alright?"

"Yeah…" Tamara blinked and rubbed her eyes.

"You had me worried there… I don't know what happened exactly… One moment we were jumping in that portal with the kid… And the next I'm with my dad again… We're camping again and then…there was this large boom and there was Storybrooke and..." Greg exhaled, his voice strained with emotion.

"I swear Tam it was like it was happening all over again."

Greg shook his head again. He looked emotionally shaken.

"It all felt so real!"

An exhale of breath.

"Like I was actually there again. Experiencing _everything_ again! Only it was like I was both aware and unaware of what was going on. Everything that happened, I wasn't surprised. I knew… And yet… I couldn't stop it…"

Greg looked at Tamara. A broken look.

"I couldn't save him Tam. Dad died. Only this time I didn't have the hope I had last time to at least believe there was a chance he could still be alive. That I could come back and maybe he could be locked up somewhere. I don't know. I guess deep down I always had that feeling. I just hoped though." Greg shook his head, his voice strained with emotion, and though Tamara couldn't see his face because he was turned away from her, she could tell there were tears in his eyes. Despite the fact that they knew there was every possibility that Greg's father was probably dead, Regina's admission that he was dead still left a fresh wound in his heart.

It was really a pity.

She did warned him. Gave him every logical reason, and told him all she knew of the evils of magic, and he himself was committed to the cause as well but deep down she knew there was still a naïve part of Greg's that thought that there was still good in magic.

That the Evil Queen had goodness in her heart.

It was laughable.

But then again she didn't have personal memories with the woman so she shouldn't judge harshly. The Queen after all was evil. It only fit that she would be kind and tender to an innocent kid to get away with whatever it was she was doing. The real pity was that Greg and his father had to get stuck in the middle of it.

"I swear I'll kill her this time."

It appeared her partner in crime was finally over with his emotional breakdown.

"Where's the kid?" asked Tamara after looking around.

"What!? He's not…?" Greg looked around while Tamara gathered their soaked things.

"Come on, we better go before the spooky things in the night comes and get us" Tamara said, and turned to find Greg's blank face looking back, "You know. Like the Boogeyman."

Greg scoffed, and stood up as well trying to keep up to Tamara's pace.

"Hey slow down there. I'm sure the kid haven't gone far-"

"No. You don't understand. In this place, being close to either the forest or the sea is dangerous."

Greg gave her a look, "There's forest and sea all around us."

"Exactly."

"…"

"Which is why we shouldn't be in one place too long. We're in enemy's territory remember."

"Okay… So why had the Home Office asked us to come here then? And with a kid no less? What's he for…?" Greg looked at Tamara.

"It doesn't matter. We were ordered to take him here, and that's what we do."

"Yeah I know… but-"

"But what Greg!?" Tamara snapped taking both Greg and her off guard. _Geez am I real moody today. Then again waking up from the bad memory of almost getting burned alive from faeries can pretty much get anybody off edge. Keep cool Tamara.'_

"He's just a kid Tam!" shouted back and equally irate Greg, and breaking off Tamara's thought.

"He doesn't deserve to be in the middle of this! This is our battle. Our fight! I didn't sign up to this just to kidnap a kid and use him to I don't know, but I don't like the idea of a kid being hurt in this."

Tamara looked at him and sighed, "That kid… is no ordinary kid. He's important in our cause." She turned around, "And don't forget whose son he is."

"He's not the Evil Queen's son. He's just a boy who-!" Greg started vehemently until Tamara cut him off.

"I'm not talking about her. I'm talking about Emma Swan."

"Emma Swan?"

Greg blinked.

"Yes." Tamara answered in a quiet solemn voice as they walk past the sand of the shore to the dark forest that surrounds the beach.

"You saw what she did back in Storybrooke with the Queen. She stopped the trigger from destroying Storybrooke when even the Evil Queen couldn't be able to." Tamara gives Greg a look that pretty much says 'Remember what you're fighting against' all over it, and it makes Greg's stomach queasy.

He isn't sure what's right and what's wrong anymore.

"Emma Swan is dangerous. Her entire family is."

Tamara stops and looks at him intensely.

"Don't forget who we're fighting against. He may be a kid, but he's magic and we swore we'd help destroy everything magic, for the sake of those in danger of having their lives destroyed by it… just like how our lives were destroyed by it…"

There is a silence between them before Tamara decides to continue walking on without Greg as he contemplates her words.

Tamara had been the one who introduced him to the Home Office, and since then he's been faithful to their cause, not just because his life was ruined by magic, but to uncover the truth and let the whole world know about the evil that coexisted in their land. And even if they weren't allowed to tell anyone of what they actually did, (though Greg did plan on showing some of the video clips of what he had of Regina and the man named 'Gold' using their magic to some news stations, the internet, or anyone willing to listen and spread the word that there were some bunch of psychopaths in our world with unnatural powers capable of destroying and hurting the lot of them) Greg was content with the fact that every mission, every cause in destroying the unholy magic that existed in their land, was one step in keeping the world a safer place for people.

So that no kid would ever experience losing their parents so early because of some witch trying to find her happy ending when clearly she was underserving of one, and for all those who had lost loved ones because of magic and couldn't get the justice they deserve because of disbelief or fear.

No, Greg was not going to let another kid suffer like he had long ago.

Not if he could help it.

Still taking away the kid from his family all by the order of "The Home Office", the organization he swore oath to serve and obey in order to destroy magic, to prevent the thing he didn't want anybody to suffer through, felt like he was doing just that.

Destroying a family.

Greg sighed. Though Tamara had a point. This was a war they signed themselves in.

There was always going to be casualties.

A whoosh of cold air suddenly permeated around his body inside and out, and a high pitched laughter resounded around him giving him even more chills.

The high pitch voices giggled.

_ So you think we're evil do you?_

_ You have __**no**__ idea what __**evil**__ truly is!_

* * *

><p>Deep in the woods, miles away from the shore, a young boy was strolling along looking wildly in every direction. Strange critters and noises were all around. The eerie sounds of the dark forest permeated the air, and then there was the occasional glowing orbs that seemed to blink back at him in the trees and bushes. It took him a while to realize that the orbs were none other than eyes glowing in the dark staring at him as he passed along.<p>

And the forest had eyes everywhere.

It was giving Henry the creeps.

Then again, this whole situation was getting his nerves on the edge. Here he was in what seemed to be a jungle forest with no way to get home or any clue as to where home even was.

He was lost.

Just _**great**_.

Henry sighed and sat down on a rock. If only he had magical powers like his mothers. Maybe he could cast a spell that could magically bring about a magical GPS system that could tell him where he was and how to get out. Unless there was a magical smart phone out there. He could use that instead. Find a way to get in contact with his family.

Speaking of his family.

They should be here about now. If he knew anything, it was that his family would go the edge of the world to find him. Especially his mother, Regina Mills. The fact that she almost destroyed his hometown just to keep him all for herself was proof of how real possessive his mom can get. It wasn't all that comforting a thought, but considering he was now lost in the middle of the woods in who knows what realm, the idea of his magically psycho but well-meaning mother was probably set on making sure he was back safe in her arms again was reassuring. Kind of.

All he had to do was steer clear of the psychos before then and then they could all figure out how to get out of here together.

He only hope it won't take _too_ long.

He wasn't sure how long it would be before they woke up from their nap. Or if they'd woke up at all. For some reason when he got out of the water after they jumped the portal the magic bean created, he found the two magic-hating agents passed out and unconscious. He wasn't sure what to make of it, only to logically think the two obviously never used magical transportation before and it was probably too much for them.

_ Heh, what a bunch of wimps,_ Henry smirked, never mind the fact that this was technically his first time in using magical transportation too…

Maybe it was karma?

Whatever the reason, he was glad it gave him time to get away from them and he hoped that they never woke up to find him gone because that obviously wouldn't be good.

Henry chuckled.

The situation was actually kind of funny when one ignored the fact that he was lost and his parents weren't anywhere near. Maybe he could make the most of this after all… before his mother found him again and locked him in his room again with no way out besides climbing out the window.

One would think that after breaking a curse that brought memories back to your long-lost relatives (kind of) everything would go great, but no, things just got more complicated.

Henry sighed. He never realized it. How stupid he was, that in his hero worship of his biological mother and father he was unintentionally pushing away the woman who raised him. Who fed him, tucked him in bed, wiped away the tears when he became scared or sad, who had always took care of him with no complaint…

Who also locked him away in his room, who pushed him to be something he was not, who labelled him crazy and pushed him away in the same way by not believing him…

And he did the same thing too even after he knew exactly how it felt. He almost lost his mother, and he didn't realize how much he needed her, wanted her to be as much a part of his new/old family despite all she's done and who she was until there came a time when he almost lost her.

When she almost sacrificed herself for him.

_ You were willing to die to save us. That makes you a hero. And now we're gonna be heroes *_

That's when it made him realize. The book was wrong. He knew his mother well and she **was not** evil.

Crazy yes, but not evil.

Henry suddenly stood up. There was a rustle in the bushes nearby. Well, there were always rustles now and then but one can never be too sure. There was always a possibility that the two stooges woke up from their evening nap and were tracking him again. Henry gathered his things. Now was not the time to contemplate his new life, or what _his new life was_.

_ No! Don't think that way Mills! _Henry shook his head to get the negative thoughts out, "They'll find you. They'll always find you. That's practically the Charming family motto! Moms' coming any moment now."

Henry ran faster. It seemed like the forest was suddenly buzzing alive, as every time Henry moved his legs faster, the noises became louder, critters, chatters, _was that giggling?_

And there seemed to be no end in sight in the dark forest. The farther he walked, there were only more and more trees.

"There has to be an end to this forest somewhere." Henry muttered under his breath as he clutched his backpack and plowed through the forest ignoring the eyes and chitter chatter.

A voice giggled

_ 'Run as fast as you can child, but the hopes of you seeing an end is mild.'_

"Who? Who said that?" Henry stuttered as he looked around.

The voice gave a high pitched cackle.

_ Who said that?_ It mocked.

"I mean it! Who are you? Show yourself! I'm not afraid of you!" Henry yelled.

_ 'You are a rather poor liar aren't you child.'_

The voice chuckled. _Very well then, if that is your wish._

The chatter around the woods suddenly grew louder, and the eyes hidden under leaves suddenly seemed bigger. They were coming closer!

_ Fwoosh!_

Leaves suddenly flew everywhere as a swarm of what looked like a billion insects surrounded the poor startled boy.

"…Okay maybe that wasn't entirely a good idea." Henry said before he ran as fast as his legs could take him while a swarm of deadly insects buzzed after him through the woods.

* * *

><p><em>* This is a quote from Henry to Regina in the end when she was about to sacrifice herself in the end of "And Straight on Til Morning"<em>

**Author's Note: Okay so this is Chapter 2! Sorry if the dialogue or narrative seems to run too long, or if you can't seem to picture the setting and all. Or if the grammar is bad. I know there's a lot of run on sentences. I'm sorry those are my weaknesses, plus I'm writing it like I'm watching it on T.V so I get a little confused with the past/present conjectures and stuff. Grammar is my weakness! Hehe! I just started writing and this is my first fic, plus it's been a long time since I read a book.**

**I'm also sorry if Henry seems a bit out of character. I don't really understand his character all too well, as to me the show seems to focus way too much on some characters rather than others probably due to popularity or the actors or the fact that creating stories for those characters are just easy, I don't know. I know Henry may seem a little too dull, or too mature here. I've only recently seen him the new season and he's just so mature isn't he?! Also I wanted him to feel a bit guilty for how he treated Regina in Season 2. I figure he'd feel a bit guilty for starting all this and pushing his mother away, so don't expect too much of an optimistic, carefree (maybe slightly), cheery Henry. This Henry is very serious and is going to start getting rid of his previous illusions to what being a hero means. Here he is going to grow up. Regina and Emma are going to be terrified. DAN! DAN! DAAAN! **

**Ha! Ha! I so hope I can fulfill that promise x)**

**Anyway thank you to SewingInShadows and Melanie for reviewing! Free virtual cookies to the both of you! Your reviews are the reason I actually keep writing because I honestly could have just kept this fic cold but you guys are the reason it's still going!**

**Be on the lookout for Chapter 3: The Slaugh!**


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